Posted Jun. 4, 2014, 9:32 am

Mirror Staff

Republican gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari today called for party unity and pledged to hold Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown accountable for "our lack of jobs, for our failed schools and for our record poverty."

"Gov. Brown continually claims a 'California comeback,' but most families have no idea what he is talking about," Kashkari said after finishing second ahead of Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, R-Twin Peaks, to earn a spot on the November ballot for governor against Brown.

"For too long, misguided policies from Sacramento have driven jobs out of the state and destroyed the education system. In fact, Jerry Brown's legacy is the destruction of the middle class."

Brown, who is seeking an unprecedented fourth term, led the field of 15 candidates with 54.5 percent of the vote, according to semi-official results released today by the Secretary of State's Office. Kashkari received 19 percent and Donnelly 14.8 percent. There were no other candidates with more than 3 percent of the vote.

"Forty years from the time I won my first primary for governor of California, I'm ready to tackle problems, not on a partisan basis, but on a long-term basis of building California and making sure we're ready for the future," Brown told reporters outside the governor's mansion in Sacramento.

Brown credited his first-place finish to "curing a $27 billion deficit, keeping my promise not to raise taxes unless the people themselves voted for it and bringing government closer to the people."

"We're doing that with realignment of our prison system, we're doing that with our school system by putting more authority into the hands of teachers, more authority at the local school level and not trying to aggregate all the power up here in Sacramento because that just doesn't work."

This was the first gubernatorial election under the "top two" system adopted by voters in 2010. Candidates from all parties appeared on the primary ballot, with the top two advancing to the November election regardless of party.

The field consisted of six Republicans, two Democrats, five without a party preference and one each from the Green Party and Peace and Freedom Party.

A former Treasury Department official making his first run for office, Kashkari focused his primary campaign on two issues -- creating jobs and improving education.